An OED is a device including at least one layer of an organic material capable of conducting a current as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 1996-176293 (Reference 1). Such OEDs include an organic light emitting device (OLED), an organic solar cell, an organic photo conductor (OPC), and an organic transistor.
Conventionally, an OLED, which is a representative OED, sequentially includes a substrate, a first electrode layer, an organic layer, and a second electrode layer. In a structure known as a bottom emitting device, the first electrode layer may be a transparent electrode layer, and the second electrode layer may be a reflective electrode layer. In addition, in a structure known as a top emitting device, the first electrode layer may be formed as a reflective electrode layer, and the second electrode layer may be formed as a transparent electrode layer. Electrons and holes injected by the electrode layers are recombined in the emitting layer located in the organic layer, resulting in generation of light. The light may be emitted to the substrate in the bottom emitting device, or to the second electrode layer in the top emitting device.
In the structure of the OLED, indium tin oxide (ITO) generally used as the transparent electrode layer, the organic layer, and the substrate, which is conventionally formed of glass, have refractive indexes of approximately 2.0, 1.8, and 1.5, respectively. In such a relationship of the refractive indexes, for example, the light generated in the emitting layer in the bottom emitting device is trapped at an interface between the organic layer and the first electrode layer or in the substrate due to a total internal reflection phenomenon, and only a very small amount of light is emitted.
In addition, recently, as interest in flexible OEDs has increased, a demand for technology to replace a glass-based substrate with a polymer-based substrate in a structure of the OLED has been increasing. However, since the polymer-based substrate is more vulnerable to thermal and moisture resistant environments than the glass-based substrate, it is difficult to apply to the OED.